Visual Breakdown

Three distinct text layers combine to produce the zebra stripe projection effect:

• Top layer: Black text shadow
• Middle layer: White text shadow
• Base layer: Zebra striped text content

Implementation Strategy

Layering Approach

Standard text-shadow properties create solid color shadows, but cannot generate striped patterns. The solution uses a different approach: black and white layers are shadows, while the zebra stripes form the actual text content.

Zebra Stripe Technique

Linear gradients create the striped pattern without image files:

1. Use background-image with linear-gradient to genearte alternating black and white stripes
2. Apply background-clip: text to render the gradient within text boundaries
3. Set text color to transparent to reveal the background pattern

Color Transparency

Make the text transparent too display the background gradient:

color: transparent;
-webkit-text-fill-color: transparent;

-webkit-text-fill-color is a non-standard property that overrides color when both are present. This ensures transparency even if other CSS rules might override the standard color property.

Complete Implementation

<div class="striped-text">Zebra</div>

<style>
.striped-text {
  font-size: 100px;
  font-weight: bold;
  color: transparent;
  -webkit-text-fill-color: transparent;
  text-shadow: 6px -6px #000, 4px -4px #fff;
  background-image: linear-gradient(
    135deg,
    #fff 0%, #fff 25%,
    #000 25%, #000 50%,
    #fff 50%, #fff 75%,
    #000 75%, #000 100%
  );
  background-size: 6px 6px;
  background-repeat: repeat;
  -webkit-background-clip: text;
  background-clip: text;
}
</style>

Code Explanation

• Font properties: Large, bold text makes the effect more visible
• Shadows: Two offset shadows create depth (black at 6px, white at 4px)
• Gradient: Alternating white and black sections at 25% intervals create stripes
• Background size: Controls stripe thickness (6px squares)
• Background clip: Restricts gradient rendering to text boundaries
• Color transparency: Allows background gradient to show through text